As part of its Moon Program, Türkiye is focusing on scientific advancements in space while aiming to capture a larger share of the growing lunar economy with its high-tech products.
Interest in the Moon—often referred to as the "8th continent"—is increasing due to its rising accessibility. More than 60 missions are planned over the next decade, adding new players to the existing ones.
It is estimated that the cumulative volume of the Earth-Moon economic zone created and targeted by all these actors will reach $150 billion by 2040. To secure a permanent presence on the Moon and gain economic leverage, planned and sustainable partnerships are being formed through programs such as ARTEMIS, Lunar Gateway, and ILRS.
The goal is to utilize space resources, using the Moon especially as a refueling station, thereby enabling Earth-Moon-deep space logistics.
TURKIYE DEVELOPS LUNAR TECHNOLOGIES
In this context, Türkiye continues to work toward independent space access. As part of its National Space Program, Türkiye is preparing to carry out its first Moon mission by 2028 and aims to gain experience in reaching deep space in the future.
Türkiye is also hosting workshops that will place it among the few nations active in lunar research and strengthen its scientific capabilities.
The plan is to reach the Moon with a spacecraft powered by a domestically developed propulsion system, designed and built by Turkish engineers and scientists.
Under the Moon Program, Türkiye is working on a wide range of technologies, including a "lunar telescope," "narrow-field lunar radiometer," "radiation dosimeter," "radiation calorimeter," and high-resolution video cameras for detailed lunar surface analysis.
The scientific objectives of Türkiye's Moon mission are significant: understanding the origin of lunar water, analyzing the structure of local magnetospheres, examining surface temperature distribution, and characterizing the radiation environment in both lunar and Earth orbits. These findings will be strategically valuable for planning future missions.
MULTI-SECTOR CONTRIBUTIONS EXPECTED
Gaining a share in the expanding space economy requires active presence in the Moon's orbit and on its surface. Establishing infrastructures in these areas will lay the foundation for a lunar economy. This economy will be driven by three key elements: "transport to the Moon," "lunar-specific data," and "Moon resources."
With its Moon Program, a goal of the National Space Program, Türkiye has the potential to contribute to all three elements and tap into the emerging market by developing capabilities and an ecosystem involving both space and non-space industries.
Realizing these components isn't solely possible with the capabilities of the space industry. Sectors such as automotive, construction, robotics, communication, energy, mining, healthcare, and transportation must also contribute to building the Moon economy.
LUNAR ECONOMY CONTINUES TO GROW
The market size for "transport to the Moon"—including system development, launch, orbit delivery, landing, operational support, and data processing—is expected to reach $79 billion by 2040.
This includes satellites, landers, surface exploration vehicles, landing and navigation systems, spacecraft operation, communications, data download, mission data processing, and information generation.
The market for "lunar-specific data production," which includes manufacturing, transport, remote and onsite exploration, pre-processing and storage, and data transmission, processing, and analysis, is forecasted to reach $8.3 billion by 2040.
This includes developing mission payloads and support platforms, launching and placing them in lunar orbit, collecting data from orbit and the surface, raw data processing, onboard data storage, payload data download, and producing value-added information.
The "Moon resources" market—covering exploration, extraction, transport, refining, production, and distribution—is projected to hit $64 billion by 2040.
This includes discovering usable resources remotely and onsite, extracting raw materials, transporting them for processing, refining residues, improving material purity, producing usable resources, storing final products, and delivering them to customers.
